NEWS

As you will probably have learned from the press and the professional news sources we regret having
to inform you, that the handling of the barges in Rotterdam and Antwerp worsened
again. This results in extended barge stays in Rotterdam and Antwerp between 50
to 100 hrs. along with a serious amount of extra costs so far.

To deliver the containers as much as possible within the time frames provided by you, our
barge partners had to charter extra barges. This however leads to reduced
utilization of the regular barges and therefore the economic viability of the
service.

In order to maintain the service levels of the barges our barge partners have introduced a
surcharge of EUR 15,50 per full or empty containers, to come into effect August
07, 2017 (barge departure date). We have no other option but to forward this
charge as from August 07, 2017 (barge departure date) to you.

The handling performance of the barges will be monitored closely in order to be able to
inform you in time of any change of this congestion surcharge, depending how the
waiting times in the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp have changed.

In case barges have to wait longer than 60 hours for operation we reserve us the right to discharge
your containers at another terminal. Of course we can arrange the transfer to your
designated terminal upon your wish and for account of the cargo.

This surcharge is only applicable for containers transported by barge between Rotterdam/Antwerp
and Neuss, including other terminals in the Lower Rhine market v.v., whereby
the sailing date of the barge is decisive. Containers by rail do not face this
surcharge at this moment of time. In the event that the handling of the trains
also get worse to the extent that the effects are no longer bearable by us, we
reserve our right to introduce such a surcharge for those containers as well.

Thanks for your understanding and we look forward to your continued support,